In electrical engineering, any stationary device or electrical system that serves for supplying energy to mobile, battery-operated units, machines or motor vehicles by way of simple setting or insertion without it being necessary for the energy store—for example the traction battery of an electric automobile—to be removed compulsorily is referred to as a charging station. Charging stations for electric automobiles are also sometimes referred to as “electricity charging stations” and can comprise a plurality of charging points.
Known here in particular are direct-current fast charging/high-performance charging (HPC) systems such as the so-called combined charging system (CCS), which is widespread in Europe. In the case of direct-current charging of the generic type, direct current is fed from the charging column directly into the vehicle and, for this purpose, is provided by way of a powerful rectifier from the electricity network or by way of large buffer accumulators at solar charging stations, for example. Situated in the vehicle is a battery management system, which communicates with the charging column directly or indirectly in order to adapt the current intensity, or to terminate the process when a capacity limit is reached.
The power electronics system is usually located in this case in the charging column. Since the direct-current connections of the charging column are connected directly to corresponding connections of the traction battery, it is possible for high charging currents to be transmitted with little loss, this allowing short charging times but also generating a considerable amount of waste heat.
Known charging columns for electric vehicles take up a large installation space when a battery is integrated therein. Large cabinets or charging columns that have heights of from 1.8 in to 2.2 m are commonly used. Such columns usually have one or two doors to ensure maintenance and accessibility. Said doors are often the weak points for penetrating water etc. Vandalism can also be carried out more easily by means of the doors since as a result weak points can be identified by vandals.
CN205674884U, which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a charging station or column having a cube-shaped housing.
DE102011056651A1, EP2875989A1 and US2011140657A1, all of which are incorporated by reference herein, relate to charging stations or columns having a housing for protection against environmental influences or measures against vandalism.
US2010225475A1, which is incorporated by reference herein, describes a charging station or column having a multilateral hinged cover.